


Fortune Favors

by BinaBina



Series: Demolition [1]
Category: Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Established kbnz, M/M, Magic, Prince!Leon, Prince!Piers, Worldbuilding, dragon!Raihan, is it not the ideal life to live in an isolated homestead with your dragon bf, leon is still a champion just in a different way, ok piers isnt really a prince he abandoned his title
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-20
Updated: 2020-04-26
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:40:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 22,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23744698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BinaBina/pseuds/BinaBina
Summary: A stolen prince, freed from isolation by a passing dragon who heard him singing from the top of his tower, happy to be kidnapped from his cage and taken far, far away.A fearsome and powerful dragon enjoying the domestic life with his greatest treasure, defending their home so they can live together in peace.A prince without royal blood, raised to be his kingdom's sword, allowed to leave home under the condition that he return a hero before three months' time is up. And what are heroes to do but slay terrible beasts and save any damsels in distress?Fantasy AU where Leon crashes the party and soon is extended an invitation of his own.
Relationships: Dande | Leon/Kibana | Raihan, Dande | Leon/Kibana | Raihan/Nezu | Piers, Dande | Leon/Nezu | Piers, Kibana | Raihan/Nezu | Piers
Series: Demolition [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1738906
Comments: 66
Kudos: 229





	1. Chapter 1

Raihan's favorite thing about waking up early is seeing his treasure still asleep in his arms. The fact that the human feels safe enough in his embrace to get a good night's sleep never fails to put warmth in his chest.

He expresses himself with a content rumble. The man in his arms stirs inside his cocoon of blankets and nuzzles closer, seeking his heat. Raihan never sleeps with any covers, since they always snag on his tail and wings, and being covered by anything makes him agitated.

Humans, though, they need to be covered up while they sleep. Fragile things. Raihan's more than happy to let his treasure take all the blankets whenever they sleep together, which, for these past few weeks of spring, the entirety of winter, and the last few weeks of autumn, has been every single night, thank the gods.

It's a habit he hopes they don't break anytime soon. He loves this. He loves being able to hold his precious close and guard him through the night with his presence, even when there's nothing that can threaten them in the safety of his territory.

And if anything ever tries...

"Rai... yer squeezin' me..."

He loosens his arms immediately. "Sorry. Didn't mean to wake you."

Raihan leans back so he can see his treasure's face.

Piers' eyes are mostly lidded, peering blearily out from the blankets. His lashes flutter as he blinks himself awake, and Raihan catches himself already smiling by the time his partner looks up at him. Those eyes are prettier than any jewel he could add to his nonexistent hoard.

"...What're you smilin' for this early?"

"Am I not allowed to smile when I'm happy?" Raihan pulls the bundle of blankets closer, throwing a wing over them both to wrap them in an extra layer. "Another morning with you in my arms is enough to fill my heart with—"

"Okay, okay, I get it already..." Piers squirms inside his swaddle until he works an arm free. Raihan eagerly tracks the motion of the freed hand, and only pouts a little bit when it's used to rub the sleep from its owner's eyes. "Bit early for poetry," the smaller man yawns.

Raihan refrains from reminding Piers that staying up through the night writing songs until the sun rises counts as 'early poetry.'

"But not too early to tell you I love you," is what he counters with instead.

On a whim, Raihan leans down and nuzzles his lips against his treasure's forehead. The action earns him a hum, and he has to fight not to grin when Piers tilts his head up and gives him a small kiss on the chin.

"Back at you, big guy."

He would love nothing more than to go for a kiss on the lips, but Piers is fussy about not kissing until he's done getting ready for the day.

They haven't even been together for a full turn of the seasons, but they've settled into a routine so naturally it's like they've been together for years. It's so comfortable, so domestic and strange. It's not the typical dragon's life, but he likes it.

Raihan settles back down and curls around his lover, pressing his face into the thick hair on top of Piers' head and inhaling deeply.

Crazy how he found this by complete coincidence. Stealing the prince away from his homeland was too easy. Piers wanted to leave, wanted to escape and be free. All Raihan had to do was crack that tower open like an oyster to snatch the flawless pearl from within.  Easy, so easy, and so worth it. Sure there were some rough patches at the start after the initial liberation. Piers didn't take kindly to the idea of moving from one captor to another, but it was nothing some communication and convenient sexual and romantic tension couldn't fix.

"I can tell you're thinkin' about stuff again," Piers' melodic voice pulls him back to the present. "You're always tellin' me to let go of the past, shouldn't you practice what you preach?"

Raihan lets the tension out of his arms. "Reminiscing on past victories is different and good for you," he smugly replies into his lover's hair. "You're a brooder and could stand to do less of it. Thoughts are the one thing I can't chase away from you."

Piers works his other arm free and hugs around his dragon's neck. Raihan's tail curls happily across the furs covering the bed, and he pulls back just enough to see Piers smirking up at him.

"So you think."

Oh...? Maybe Piers is in the mood to break routine a little bit. Raihan tightens his wing over them and leans in to test it. A morning kiss would start his day off right, not that anything's set to go wrong anytime soon.

Their lips are a hair's breadth apart when there's a sharp tug on Raihan's awareness. It rings a little alarm inside his head, and he bolts upright, wings tense and head turned in the direction the pull came from.

"Someone's intruding. Dammit, this is the second one since all the snow melted, why can't people just stay out of my territory?"

Piers scoffs and eases himself into the warm spot left vacant by his sitting up. "'My' territory?" he drawls.

Whoops. He did it again. Raihan relaxes slightly and smiles at the sight of his beloved curled up like a cat in its nest.

"Fine, _our_ territory." Raihan twists and leans back down to nuzzle into the human's neck. "It'd be easier to say if you'd just let me..." His breath warms a particular spot on the pale neck beneath him, and he gives it a swipe with his forked tongue.

A thin hand smushes into his cheek. He sits up with a grin and laughs at the scowl gracing his would-be mate's face.

"I know, I know. Be right back, precious, I'll go chase this fool off our land." He climbs off the bed and stretches up towards the ceiling, wings spreading to their full length and scraping opposite sides of the tower's large, circular room.

A satisfied groan leaves him and he checks over his shoulder. His treasure is laying on his side now, head propped up on his hand, with the blankets slipping down his bare torso and his hair pooling over the pillows and furs. Stunning as always. Piers is also shamelessly staring, and Raihan's chest warms in self-pride.

"Enjoying the view?" He pulls his wings in and makes a show of another stretch, locking his arms over his head and leaning his torso to one side, then the other. Stretching before wrecking someone's shit is very important. Can't give anyone a proper ass-kicking without limbering up first.

"Can't enjoy the view when you're blockin' the window," Piers quips. "Get out of here already, ye big show-off. And don't come back bloody this time. Hate scrubbin' these walls."

"I'll do my best to keep it clean, babe."

His treasure rolls his eyes and flops onto his other side, dragging the blankets back up to cover him, no doubt planning on catching more sleep before getting ready for the day. And the only reason Piers can fall back asleep is because he has so much faith in Raihan to do his job.

It's enough to make any dragon's head big.

With that, Raihan chuckles and strolls to the room's sole window. It's big enough to easily accommodate his body, and has no sill or glass or any adornments. It would be a plain square hole in the thick stone wall if not for the thin web of magic preventing the elements from entering the room and disturbing his treasure's comfort.

Raihan crouches in the window, claws scraping stone. Now that his head is past the magic pane, he can smell everything. He breathes deep and closes his eyes. There it is, something foreign tainting the natural stream of scents on the breeze.

The intruder is human. Male. Not from a land anywhere near here. A tang of steel accents the scent, hinting at armor and weaponry.

A knight.

Raihan's lip curls into a joyless smile. Been a while.

That's the one downside to living in such a remote area. It's impossible to build up a scary reputation that deters any random wanderer from testing their foolish luck. The only people who know to warn strangers off is the village nearest his—and Piers'— territory. It's a modest little thing, but everyone there knows his name and knows not to fuck with him.

But every so often an idiot still tries.

Raihan may have promised to do his best to avoid a bloody fight, but if this latest dead man walking really is a knight, then blood may be inevitable. Annoying things are always so determined.

(It won't be his own blood that he comes home with, of course. Raihan's never let himself be physically wounded by a human before.)

Emotionally, though, it definitely would be possible coming from the right person...

"Come back soon," his love bids. "'M already cold."

That's all the encouragement Raihan needs to launch away from the window and set out towards the source of the offending scent. The morning sun is warm on his back, and will take several hours more to warm the stone of their home.

'Already cold.' Skinny thing loses heat so easily. No matter how well Raihan tries to feed him, the former prince never manages to build up to a healthier weight so he can retain heat better. He thought the poor guy was being starved while he was being kept and guarded by that pathetic excuse for a dragon, but no, apparently that's just how he is. It would be worrying if Piers' mind and tongue weren't so sharp. Indicators of sound health.

Still, the last thing Raihan wants is for his treasure to be cold, of all preventable things. He's still learning how to best keep his partner happy and cared for. Piers makes _him_ happy without any effort at all (and when he does put effort in, Raihan is the happiest dragon alive), and he needs to return the favor! It's just difficult sometimes to know what to do.

Eventually he wants Piers to go from feeling cared for to feeling pampered, then full-on spoiled like he deserves. Only the best for his best friend and lover. Hopefully the warming weather will make things easier... Winter was harder than he'd like to admit.

On the bright side, some things stay easy no matter the season. Like defending the territory and the tower within from intruders looking to either kill him, or, if they happened to catch wind of Piers' existence, to 'rescue' the 'prisoner' from the 'evil dragon.'

Those sentiments are as hilarious as they are misguided. Not that he can really blame them, given the typical scary dragon narrative. Raihan doesn't mind. All that matters is that Piers chose him, loves him, and wants to stay with him. And Raihan will defend his mate and his right to freedom to his last breath.

A tang of sour metal on the wind brings him focus. Definitely a knight. So annoying to deal with. They never shut up, all self-righteous and annoyingly moralistic and yelling about the greater good and all that. He'd love to see a selfish knight for once.

The threads of magic lacing the perimeter tug harder at his consciousness as he flies closer. There's a disturbance where a man-sized entity walked right through the boundary. There are no traces of foreign magic around the tear, meaning that this isn't some holy knight or mage or something that would at least make this fun. It's just a regular, plain human knight. What a chore.

He tenses his left wing to start a slow banking turn. He'll skirt around towards the point of entry and see if he can't approach the knight from behind while he's no doubt still walking through the forested region. He hates flying where his challengers can see him coming, because they always stop walking and wait for him to approach, like Raihan's the one who scheduled an appointment and they're impatiently waiting on him to hurry up already. Dragons rush for no creature lower than themselves. Which is all of them. It's undignified.

...Unless it's Piers calling him for something. That's a special exception. He'd never make his treasure wait for anything.

A glimmer catches the dragon's eye. There, walking through the meadow, the intruder. Raihan smirks. They're not even bothering to look up, and with the sun in his face now, his approach will cast no shadow until it's too late. Means he can make a dramatic entrance, his favorite. Sometimes they scream, sometimes they turn tail and run, which is always entertaining.

Raihan smiles and pulls in his wings to start a descent.

This should be over with quickly.

* * *

Hours and hours after he set out in the direction the village pointed him to, Leon finally found the dragon's territory deep in the forest. He was told it's too large to miss, but he still managed to get turned around half a dozen times through the thick woods before he finally found it.

If the deep claw marks in the trees weren't enough to indicate the edge of the beast's land, the uncomfortable pressure of the magic linking each gouged mark makes the boundary unmistakeable. Every step closer raises the hairs on the back of his neck until his skin is prickling all over.

This is where he needs to be. As soon as he crosses the invisible threshold, the dragon should instantly know he's here. Then, there'll be no turning back.

Leon takes a moment to kneel on the forest floor, and tunes out as much as he can, from the breeze rustling the new leaves on the trees, to the chattering birdsong, to the rustling of tiny animals rummaging through the underbrush. He needs to clear his mind of his burdens before going into this battle, as it'll likely be the most challenging one he'll have in his life, for dragons are the deadliest of all the sentient beasts—strong, intelligent, and with massive stores of magical power that they call upon to bend the elements to their will. Engaging with one without taking the proper preparations is an instant death sentence.

Part of those preparations is being mentally ready for a fight to the death. And he is. Has been for years. He's been trained to put everything on the line for victory.

He slows his breathing, and sits up straighter, and sets one hand on the hilt of the sword at his side. The weapon of a weapon. A fine piece of work, both of them.

He's thought about running away before. Being this far away from Rhondeland should be the perfect opportunity. But knowing his king, trying to use this quest as a chance to leave isn't an option. If he fails to make it back in time, if Rose realizes he's gone, his 'father' would stop at nothing to get him back, using his truancy as a reason to pry into every kingdom and state Leon's passed through to get here. Not to mention that the consequences of his disobedience would likely last him the rest of his suffocating life. The prince of Rhondeland must return, and in order to bring change to his life back home, he must return victorious, just like he always has.

The irony isn't lost on him, that in order to gain some freedom from being Rose's personal sword, he needs to embody it now more than ever.

Leon reaches into himself to find the cold-hearted warrior Rhondeland spent years honing him into. He doesn't have to go that deep. Getting into the right state of mind is necessary to help him forget that he's about to take another life.

_You are a prince of Rhondeland, and you are here to win. Victory is your purpose._

That mantra is all he needs to still his thoughts. His heartbeat is steady, his breathing is even, and his body has long since been forged into a weapon as sharp as a human's can possibly be. Whether it's enough to slay a dragon remains to be seen.

The prince rises.

He must move forward.

The underbrush crunches under his boots as he approaches the space between two claw-marked trees. Every step he takes is harder than the last. The dragon's territory is magically-enforced, and repels the deepest part of his hindbrain, the part that no amount of training or meditation can suppress for long. Whoever this beast is, he's powerful if he can maintain a border like this...

"Here goes..." he murmurs.

The invisible threads of magic stretch like cobwebs over his outstretched hand. There's no physical resistance, but it's difficult to move forward. Every instinct the prince has is telling him to draw back and run while he still can.

He closes his eyes and forces his body to take the step. Crossing the boundary of the dragon's territory feels like swimming to the bottom of a lake while already suffocating—it goes against every survival mechanism his body has, and when his face passes the border he has to screw his eyes shut and hold his breath to maintain control over his body and keep it moving forward.

And then, in an instant, he can breathe again.

All he took was a single step forward, but it was the hardest part of his trek so far.

There's no way his entry went unnoticed by the territory's owner. The only way the prince could have snuck in unnoticed is if he took a mage with him skilled enough to pick through the magic and make a hole in it large enough for him to sneak through. Good thing he wants the dragon to notice him, because he's here for a fight.

The Rhondeland prince squares his shoulders and makes his way deeper into the dragon's territory, every sense sharp and every movement measured.

The grass and trees of the forest seem more lush, now. Like spring has accelerated a few weeks just by crossing the magical threshold. Enough leaves have sprouted on the trees that the sky is almost completely obstructed. No way to see the dragon from above, then. He sighs and presses on, not bothering much with stealth.

The only question is when the dragon will choose to confront him. He may already be under watch.

The forest suddenly opens into a meadow. The knee-high grass is so verdant in the sun that he's forced to squint until his eyes adjust. Wildflowers add texture to the sea of green, poking up like guard towers and swaying in the breeze.

It's almost scenic enough to let one's guard down. The prince stands taller and wades through the grass. It's a hindrance to his legs, but he at least has the space to freely swing his sword when the time comes. He lifts his head to scan the sky as he walks.

No sign of any dragon yet. It's too peaceful, with every sound of nature still active. It's almost worrying that the owner of this land is taking this long to arrive... All the rumors the village had for him spoke of a relentless, territorial, bloodthirsty beast. One who's a gleeful killer, who drops corpses in their square that splatter into pieces the instant they hit the—

_Crunch._

Leon tears his eyes away from the sky and looks down, shifting his foot away to reveal whatever it is he stepped on.

Bones over burnt grass. It used to be a hand.

He halts where he is and takes in the rest of the immediate area. A wide, but constrained, sprawl of scorched grass, mostly black and brown and freckled with the green of new sprouts, and scattered with the bleached bones of a single human. A star-shaped mark is burned into the center of the area roughly where the body's feet would have been.

He can picture it. A man standing right here in the pristine meadow, perhaps with wind and rain lashing about. A flash, and a boom. An instant death. And the fire that spread from the lightning strike until the rain subdued it.

He'd bet his crown that it was no coincidence.

After another few tense minutes of marching and scanning and _still no dragon,_ something peeks around the edge of the hill he's rounding.

It's a roof, which gives him pause. The angle of it is sharp enough to be the top of a tower or spire. It has to be abandoned; it looks too small for any dragon to fit inside of. It must have been here since before the beast laid claim to this land. Strangely enough, it looks so well-kept...

The whisper-scream of air ripped apart by sharp edges is the only warning before the ground shakes. Leon stumbles and whips around into a battle stance, hand on his sword hilt, eyes squinting into the sudden blast of wind threatening to knock him over.

"Well now..." A rich voice says, rough with amusement. "You look a little young to be a knight. Did somebody lose their way?"

The wind settles and he blinks, now able to see the creature before him.

It's shockingly humanoid. Leon was prepared to face off against a beast five times his size. He's heard that dragons can change their forms to a certain degree—adding wings or extending body length or even taking their own legs away in order to best fit their environment—but to make themselves look human? He's never heard of such a thing.

The creature certainly has all the trappings of a dragon. Gigantic leathery wings, a whiplike tail ridged with razors, and scales, orange and gold and indigo, crawling up its arms and legs and partially armoring its chest. Its throat is completely protected. Sharp horns angle back from its head, and the eyes are an unnaturally bright blue.

Everything else looks... human. Dark skin. Two legs, two arms, a handsome face with normal parts...

The dragon's lips curl back and reveal a mouth full of pearly daggers.

...Make that a face with mostly normal parts.

 _This is a monster,_ he reminds himself. _You've killed monsters that look human before._

"Are you the dragon of this land?" He asks, just in case.

"Mmhm. The one and only Raihan." The dragon's wings relax from their open position as their owner straightens up. It—he?—might not be in his true form, but he's still massive, towering over him even from the not-meager distance away. "And what business might you have with the great Raihan?"

The prince steels himself and straightens up in turn. "I'm here to—"

"Just kidding, I know why you're here." The dragon, Raihan, lifts a scaled hand and inspects his claws. "Evil monster must die and all that. You're not the first to come here wanting to challenge me, and it's never gone well for anyone else seeing as how I'm still here, so how about this? I'll give you the chance to run since I'm in a good mood. You look like you've got a promising life ahead of you."

The words sting. There'll be no life he can be proud to live if he doesn't fulfill his mission.

"I'm not running." He unsheathes his sword, points it straight at the dragon's scaled throat. "I'm here to put you out of your misery."

"Tsk. Boring." He's waved off like a fly. "You knights are all the same. Couldn't you have given me something more original at least?"

Now the dragon is treating this like a game? Leon grits his teeth and tries again, squaring his shoulders and staring the monster in the eye. "Is my trespassing not enough for you?"

The dragon's lip twitches in amusement. "If it were, you wouldn't be standing here. I just don't feel like getting bloody today." He shrugs with both shoulders and wings. "So you can put that thing down now."

Leon blinks and lowers his sword. This is ridiculous. Is this really a dragon? They're supposed to be bloodthirsty beasts, top of the food chain for a reason. Worshipped in some cultures for a reason. Emblazoned on the heraldry of the most war-frenzied nations for a reason.

And this one is shrugging and saying he doesn't feel like fighting the intruder pointing a sword at him him.

_You are a prince of Rhondeland._

"Well?" The 'great' Raihan yawns.

_You are here to win. Victory is your purpose._

"I thought you were a dragon," he taunts. The words are bitter and dishonest on his tongue, but he delivers them with the same sincerity he's been trained to give his canned speeches to the public. "I was expecting some great powerful beast, but all I see is a cowardly snake trying to pass as one and doing a terrible job at it."

The dragon's face splits into a razor-sharp smile. "There's some bite... Look, knight, I may not be in my normal body, but you can't tell me you look at me and see anything other than what I really am."

The beast stretches his wings out, hunching his shoulders and raising his arms with hands clawing the air. Bared teeth perfect the image of a monster mid-pounce, and the hair on the back of Leon's neck prickles instinctively. Raihan relaxes out of the pose and smirks, and Leon curses himself for visibly relaxing as well.

"All dragon here. So do the smart thing, and shoo already. I have better things to do than kill a pretty face."

...Perhaps Rhondeland's research about these creatures isn't as complete as its scholars have sworn.

Leon wracks his brain for something to rile the monster up, and a memory hits him. One of the people he talked to at the nearest village to track this place down. They shook their heads at him, pointed in a vague direction into the forest, and sent him off with pity. But he remembers, a mumble, a whispered prayer as he set out...

_"Dear me, I hope this one's able to save that poor..."_

Save... as in, save a person?

He's heard about this before. Dragons adding living things to their hoards, hoards that they're incredibly possessive and protective over. Rare animals or plants, or even...

"A human," he whispers in realization. "You're keeping a human."

Raihan's eyes narrow and his smile diminishes. "What business is it of yours?"

So he really does have someone hidden away. They must be in that tower, and it changes everything.

Leon swallows and raises his sword again, readying it for a strike. The stakes just changed. Not only will the prince of Rhondeland come home a hero just for slaying a dragon, he'll have saved someone, too. Not that Rose will care about that personally, but he will care about it for the sake of public relations. And anything the public loves gives Leon leverage to use against him.

"It's absolutely my business. I'll free them from you. If you want to stop me, then fight me."

"Hah! What makes you think I'll engage over your silly little challenge?" The dragon's long tail sweeps across the grass, hands flexing at his side and contradicting his tone. He's already getting ready to fight. "My treasure is _mine._ Nothing you do can take him away from me."

Leon takes this chance and runs with it. To clinch his chances, he switches to very deliberate, possessive language to goad the dragon even more.

"Are you sure about that? If I win them from you, they'll be mine instead."

The challenge puts a serious set to Raihan's face. He isn't smiling anymore, and somehow the disappearance of all those teeth is more intimidating than when they were out. A low growl rumbles like thunder in the distance, humming in his bones and making every hair stand on end. He sharpens his focus and adjusts his grip on his blade.

The dragon steps left. Leon steps right to match, and the two start a slow circling. Leon doesn't want to lose the advantageous position of having the sun at his back—and therefore in the dragon's eyes—but he also wants to maintain their current distance and not let the dragon flank him. Both their steps are light and even; the rustling of parting grass is the loudest thing between them until the dragon speaks in a rage-simmered growl.

"What makes you think you can win my Piers in a one-on-one fight? If you really wanted him out, you wouldn't have come alone... not that it'd make much difference in the end."

_So his name is Piers..._

Another step, closer this time, tightening the circle. Leon lowers his stance. "I've never lost a battle in my life." He scans the dragon's form for any potential vulnerabilities, and knows he's being inspected right back. "I am my kingdom's champion, and you're about to become my greatest victory yet."

Something in the air changes. There's an energy, a charge, an inaudible hum in the back of Leon's mind that sends his blood racing for battle as his instincts heed the warning.

"Today's your lucky day then, _champion,_ because I'm about to teach you what it's like to lose."

They stop circling. The dragon's wings draw in close to his back and he lowers into a half-squat, claws flexing and eyes—eyes that are a sharp, clear blue, split by a vertical pupil—sharpening with bloodlust. His expression is confident, fearless, but his razored tail betrays tension as it lashes. Human-shaped or not, the dragon looks more like the monster it truly is, now.

Leon readies his sword and sets one foot back to brace himself.

"Try and show me, then."

A crazed glint shines in the dragon's eyes. Raihan hunches deeper, fingers curling to ready his claws, wings tightening closer to his body.

Since only one of them will come out the fight alive, Leon frees himself of the burden of his true motivation to clear it from his mind, speaking softly, mostly to himself, and bracing his feet into the earth.

"You're about to become my freedom."

Shock slackens the dragon's stance. Leon lunges.

Before he can stab his sword into the monster's breast, a sharp wind blinds him and the space in front of him is suddenly empty. Leon's boots skid along the pristine grass. His opponent, unscathed and snarling, lands a dozen feet away in a low crouch, so quietly that if he weren't in Leon's line of sight he'd think the dragon vanished.

The breeze settles as the dragon's wings flex and fold themselves down. Leon stays tense, focus so strong that time slows down as he awaits a counterattack... that never comes.

The dragon is just crouching there.

After a solid ten seconds pass with both of them still as statues, Leon dares to lower his blade just enough for the motion to be visible.

"...I thought you were going to teach me a lesson. I'm ready for you, dragon. Your move!"

Even from a distance, Raihan's eyes are piercing. They're narrowed into slits, flickering over him, analyzing weak spots in his stance? Leon firms up his posture and adjusts his grip on his weapon, waiting, watching, barely breathing.

The dragon looks slightly upward and past him. Leon knows better than to follow his line of sight and provide an opening for attack. The sky blue eyes drop back down. Then flick back up again. Then the beast... closes his eyes. Grimaces like he has a headache, presses the heel of his hand to his forehead, claws scraping a horn, and violently shakes his head with a snarl.

Leon readies himself for some sort of frenzied attack in the moments that follow, but to his surprise, Raihan straightens up, sluggishly as if burdened, and hisses out a raspy sigh.

"Nah... Changed my mind."

The charge in the air dissipates along with the mental white noise.

Leon nearly drops his sword. "What? But—"

"You totally ruined it. I thought you were just another idiotic knight coming here with a death wish," Raihan vehemently rumbles, tail lashing around his legs. "Would've been easy to kill you if you were just another idiot. But I guess I should thank you for snapping me out of it. I promised to keep it clean."

"What are you _talking_ about?" Leon blurts out. Promised to who? None of this makes sense!

Raihan smoothly folds his arms behind his head, eyes still shut, and... is that a pout? "Listen. I'm not going to be responsible for your freedom or whatever it is you're really trying to achieve here." He shrugs and drops his arms. "Go find it somewhere else, because you're not going to find it here."

The dragon turns his back in a true sign of disrespect to his opponent (are they still opponents?) and flares his wings, crouching for a takeoff.

This isn't right. They already started their duel, it can't just end like this, it's not right!

Before Leon can formulate a response, the dragon takes off in a whirlwind, twisting in mid-air and diving to blaze narrowly overhead, flying in the direction of the tower.

"W-Wait!" The prince turns and dashes forth to give chase, arm outstretched to grab—he doesn't even know what. Nothing's in reach, the beast is too fast.

The tall grass slows him down as he sprints, as does his sword, but he can't bring himself to drop it just in case, in the slightest chance that he can get the dragon to duel him again, so he can fight and win and return home with the proof and maybe, just _maybe,_ Rose will—

"Dra—Raihan, wait! Please!" He breaks out of the tall grass and sprints up the hill, catching a glimpse of eye contact as the dragon glares under his shoulder. "Please, let me explain! Just listen! _PLEASE!_ "

He has to stagger back a step and nearly tumbles backwards down the hill when Raihan lands in a ground-shaking crouch, back to Leon, whiplike tail lashing dangerously and keeping him from coming any closer.

"Nothing you say will change my mind. Leave my..." The dragon pauses and shakes his head. "Leave my territory before I incinerate you where you stand."

Desperation has the prince taking a step closer, dangerously within range of that sharp, twisting tail.

"Please hear me out. Great Raihan. I need this battle. I can't just turn around and leave, I have to fight. Or else—"

"Or else what?" The dragon turns around with his wings still spread, nearly grazing Leon with the tips, and draws himself to his full height, striking an intimidating silhouette that eclipses Leon in its shadow. His body chills in the sudden lack of sun.

"You knights are all the same. Tell me why I should care about whatever little scenario you have. Why should I accept your challenge and put my life on the line for what you want?"

Under the weight of that gaze, Leon falters. "Because I..." He swallows, and pathetically tries the same angle that worked to set the beast off the first time. "Don't you care that I want to take your person? Isn't that enough reason to fight me?"

"Little human," Raihan purrs with a deadly edge. "My Piers is not some prize for you to make a stake of. He's far more precious than that. And I am more than the shallow monster you seem to take me for. If you intend on using either of us as a tool for your personal goals..." A storm darkens those sky-blue eyes and the wind picks up around them. "Then you'd best walk away. I'm not playing your game."

Leon's hand slackens, and his sword pierces the grass for a moment until it tips under its own weight. A flicker of a grimace crosses the dragon's face at the small bit of shredded turf made by the sword's tip.

He really did have his head up his own ass this entire time.

What was he thinking? He wanted to slay a dragon, yes, but how could he forget that dragons are... are... they're basically people with how intelligent they are. He knew they were smart and cunning, yes, but it never occurred to him that they might have honor, or morals, or even something as basic as the restraint to not fight when it's not necessary.

He didn't allow his opponent any dignity.

Shame burns deep in the prince's heart. He easily swallows what's left of his pride and lowers his head, fully aware of the dangers of exposing the back of his neck to such a dangerous creature, and bows.

"I'm sorry. You're right. I should have respected your desire for peace. I was naive, it was never my intention to push for a dishonorable battle. You deserve more than that. Even if you are keeping a human," he finishes shamefully.

The dragon hums. "An apology? Unexpected... Alright. I accept. Pick your head up, knight."

Leon straightens up and meets the beast's eyes. His hand presses against the sun-heated metal protecting his chest. "Please, great Raihan. Allow me to explain myself."

"What, you think it'll change my mind at this point?" Amusement lightens the dragon's expression. "I don't know if you're stubborn or stupid."

"That's not what I—"

"But you know what, you're cute, so why not." Bright eyes look him up and down. "No harm in being able to look at you a little longer."

That's... flattering? To be complimented by a dragon has to be some sort of honor, right?

"Uh... Thank you." The dragon smirks. "For hearing me out," Leon hurriedly clarifies.

The longer he's stared at, the more the prince feels his face heat from something other than stress or exertion. He's about to ask if he's allowed to start when the dragon chuckles to himself and gestures with a lazy hand.

"Go on. I don't have all day."

The confirmation of the dragon's attention helps Leon focus. As an extra show of peace, the prince steps back from his fallen sword, leaving it closer to the dragon than to himself, and kneels in the grass so he can sit on his heels. A bit awkward given the slope of the hill—he's forced to lean forward a bit—but necessary, to show a completely non-aggressive posture.

"I am Prince Leon of the kingdom of Rhondeland." He introduces himself with a formal touch to his shoulder. "I've traveled for many weeks to reach this place."

"So you're not just a regular knight." The dragon sinks into a casual seated position on the hill higher up the slope, tail curling around his ankles. "Rhondeland, huh... Think I've heard a few things about them. Didn't know they had a prince."

Leon lowers his gaze to the short grass in front of him. There's a little patch of weeds there. Dandelions.

"They didn't always. I'm not of royal blood." He reaches out and gently taps the fluffy head of a flower. "I was... 'adopted' into the royal family when I was a child."

His fingers twitch around the stem of a different dandelion, one rounded and feathered with seeds, but he draws his hand back instead of plucking it. He may not be in Rhondeland, where the plant is considered a weed, but he's not going to take chances here. The dragon might take offense to him spreading the weed around his territory.

"Lucky you," the dragon says, and Leon accidentally plucks the thing anyways.

Lucky. Everyone always says that he's lucky.

"Then again, I've heard that being a prince isn't all sunshine and roses."

Leon's head jerks up. The dragon is leaning back on his arms, eyes closed to the sky. Armored throat exposed, but Leon pushes that information aside in favor of absorbing the unexpected empathy.

He doesn't care if it's pathetic to open up to a monster like this; the words come rushing out on their own.

"It's not. It's really not. I'm only at my king's side because he needed an heir he could control, and I was the only one to pass the tests."

Leon barely remembers any of his brief childhood before he was taken off the streets and forced onto a life path without any branches. He's a champion of a sheltered life, raised and fed and trained and disciplined by exacting, specific hands until he was fit for Rose. Wonderful dear son, the future King of Rhondeland, its noble protector. Its champion. Beloved, precious, _useful_ son.

"I don't have any political power, since I'm only adopted. Nobody listens to me. I'm just an accessory to my king, at most. My only real use is to fight whenever he snaps his fingers, and never lose." His hand tightens around the stem of the weed. "Nothing I do is without his permission. I'm always watched whenever I'm not at his side. The journey I'm on right now is the first time I've been out of my kingdom unescorted."

The dragon hums and hooks the sharp spade of his tail-tip around the hilt of Leon's sword, dragging it into arm's reach. He takes it up and inspects it, turning it this way and that in his clawed hands, paying zero visible attention to Leon.

"Why'd your king let his precious champion out all alone? A lot of resources were sunk into you." Raihan lines up the sword with his line of sight, staring straight down the flat of the blade at Leon. "You're a precious commodity, I can tell."

Leon lowers his gaze to the dandelion puff.

"I told my king that I wanted more accomplishments than what Rhondeland could offer. If I could do some large, fame-worthy deed out in other lands, it would improve his reputation as well as raise the public's pride in the royal family. He agreed to let me go, on the condition that I achieve something and return before three month's time has passed. He looked... proud that I was being so ambitious."

He gives the stem a slow twirl between his fingers. He's running out of time to complete his quest. He's avoided thinking about the potential of failure, but it's becoming a greater reality.

A sharp, sleek noise draws a shiver up his spine. It's Raihan, running the tip of a claw up the flat of his blade. He hums in pleasure at the sound and turns the sword to look at the guard up close, eyes narrowed in interest at the craftsmanship. Great, the dragon's taken by his sword... Not only will Leon be leaving without a fight, he might be leaving without protection as well.

"There's more you're not telling me." Another long scrape of talon on steel. "I'm getting the sense that you couldn't care less about the reputation of your family. Why did you really want to slay me? Would the prince earn a hug from daddy for killing a big bad dragon? A shiny medal? A meaningless title maybe? Leon the Mighty, Leon the Brave?"

The condescension does little to ruffle him at this point. He's upfront with what his true prize is.

"A looser leash."

Raihan pauses his inspection, and looks up. His pupils are no longer slits, Leon notes, but the blue still stands out just as brightly despite being pushed aside by black.

(Nonhuman features aside, Raihan's not bad to look at. Which is a very muted way of saying 'incredibly handsome.')

"...Oh?" The beast lowers the sword to his lap. "Now you have to tell me more."

The casual invitation sends Leon's heart racing.

"Rose only thinks I'm being ambitious for glory. That's why he approved my quest. But if I return a true hero, then he might grant me some of my..." He struggles to choose the best word. Desires? Needs? Wishes?

The dragon fills in a word for him. "Some freedoms? That's what you called me earlier."

He nods minutely and continues. "Just... little things. Like the chance to wander the kingdom unescorted. Less mandatory tournaments and meaningless fights meant to make me a spectacle." His brow furrows and he gives the stem a harder twirl. A few of the seeds break off and float away. He doesn't watch where they go. "I want to be able to talk to people who see me as a person and not some... untouchable figure. It's kind of ironic, really, you're the first one to really listen to me like this and you're not even—"

"A person?"

"A human," Leon corrects. "Sorry, I... don't have much experience speaking with..."

"Monsters. You can say it. I know how humans view us, and I can't say I blame them. What with how we burn your shit down all the time and squish you like bugs if we ever feel like it."

Leon reluctantly nods, uncomfortable with the topic but not so much that he can't participate in it. "Any time I'm face to face with a beast, it's to kill it. Kill them," he revises.

He looks down at the poor dandelion puff to distract himself from the topic of destruction. A flower's only job is to grow, which he envies them for.

He's always liked these plants in particular... The flowering heads are a bright cheery yellow, visible in grass from a long ways away, and are fluffy and soft to the touch—the seed-bearing heads even more so. And the way that only a breath is needed to send the seeds careening into the breeze... Watching them float away can always put his mind at ease.

Rhondeland's royal gardeners do their best to keep them out of the grass and gardens, but they always come back. Leon's guilty of helping them spread, unable to resist the tiny indulgence of plucking one up and giving it a blow, seeing how far the seeds can make it.

A thoughtful hum breaks the brief silence. "There's one more thing I want to know about. I know for a fact that there's other dragons between here and Rhondeland for you to make quest fodder of. So why me?"

Heat rises to Leon's face. How is he supposed to explain that he spent the last week lost in the woods, stumbled upon a village by complete accident, and happened to overhear some locals talking about a dragon and nearly tripped over his own feet in his rush to ask them for information?

"By the way, blow that thing already. It's annoying watching you hold it like that."

"Huh?" The dragon nods down at his hand. Oh. The puff.

He self-consciously raises it to his lips and gives it a practiced blow. The seeds explode away and the breeze catches and carries them up the hill, past the dragon, in the direction of the tower. A few of the seeds try to stick to Raihan's face, but the dragon blows them upward to help them along.

It's a strangely gentle sight.

"It was coincidence," Leon finds himself saying, "that you were the first one I came across."

Just coincidence. Chance.

(Fate?)

"Coincidence, huh... Well, coincidence sure led you to a bad opponent." The dragon cracks a smile and Leon suddenly notices that one of his fangs sticks out more than the others. Raihan sets the sword aside and folds his arms over his knees, giving Leon an analytical look from his elevated spot, still smiling.

"So let me get this straight, prince. You needed a bargaining chip to use against your king, and my decapitated head would have been perfect. You don't really care about taking my treasure from me or raiding my territory, and only said all that stupid shit about stealing him just to bait me into a fight."

When it's put like that, Leon feels kind of like an asshole. Like he really didn't care about the _other living person_ involved in this. He wishes he knew about the captive beforehand, so he could have actually organized a covert rescue attempt, or a surprise attack. He's lost his chance now.

"Well, yes, but... I really do want to save them. They're trapped someplace they don't want to be, just like me. I'd love nothing more than to rescue—"

The dragon busts out laughing. It's so loud and wild Leon flinches back. He recovers before the dragon notices a thing and sits through the deep cackling, shoulders hunched and mouth thinned in embarrassment. He's confused about what's so funny, but as bad as being laughed at is, he can't help but drink in the sound.

Rhondeland's palace never hears laughter like this. Everything is quiet and refined. The most a member of the court does is a practiced chuckle or giggle. But this dragon is unapologetically loud and animated, every fang exposed behind an open grin, broad shoulders shaking, wings twitching, clawed hand tearing up a fistful of grass without its owner even noticing.

"Ahhhh, oh, man, you're cute!" Raihan's laughter fades into airy chuckles and he wipes a tear from his eye with a claw. "Yes, sure, fight for my treasure's 'freedom,'" he mocks, lapsing into another fit of laughter.

"What...?" Leon weakly asks, face flushing. "Yes, I... What's so funny about that?"

"We have different definitions of freedom, knight. Prince. Whatever you are."

"My name is Leon. What do you mean different—" The dragon waves him down with a scaled hand.

"Knight Leon. I've decided to help you after all. Your plight reminds me of someone I care about. You say you can get a shot at a little bit of freedom if you slay a dragon, yeah?"

Leon shifts, uncomfortable because he can't predict where this is going. "Uh... that was the original plan, but it doesn't matter anym—"

"Well I can do you one better. I have no intention of dying, knight Leon, but I've chosen to take pity on you." The dragon slowly gets to his feet, taking his time stretching. "You remind me of my treasure quite a bit."

Wait. Time out.

So... Raihan will help him because his situation is similar to the one his prisoner is in? That's the most sadistic thing Leon's ever heard! To grant freedom to one while openly denying it to another... He can't let this dragon be so cruel to his 'treasure.' Leon needs to be a hero for real, no more wasting time by chatting with a monster!

"This is gonna be great, I can't wait to see his reaction when I..."

Leon lunges for his sword while the beast's guard is down. Or so he thought.

A heavy weight slams into his side and the world goes sideways. He's shoved onto his back, sliding down the hill under the weight and shadow of a giant creature. His hair whips around his face as massive wings beat the air to slow them down. They finally skid to a stop on the slope.

Leon throws a punch straight up. The claws leave his shoulders and catch his fist, both fists, and slam them into the grass over his head.

"Not so fast there, _Leon,_ " the dragon growls through his smile, flexing his scaled hands around Leon's. "I might like you, but you should know that making sudden moves like that is a bad idea around us monsters."

The Rhondeland prince thrashes under the steely grip. "Let me go, beast! I need my sword!"

The grass sways and lashes as large wings flare out to help the beast keep its balance. "Whoa, what's with the change in tune? I'm offering you a way out of this without anyone dying!"

"Not if it comes at the cost of your captive staying locked up!" He snarls and tries to kick, which only earns him the unyielding weight of a dragon sitting on his legs.

"For the love of..." The monster curses a name Leon's never heard before in his life. "Look. What do you really want, my head, or my treasure?"

"Are you saying I can have one without the other?" He fires back, craning his neck to look around for his sword. It's too far away to reach even if he did free his arms.

"I'm saying," growls the beast, "that you know nothing. Let me ask you this, then..." Raihan leans down. Hot breath, unnaturally sweet, coasts over Leon's forehead. "Just a simple little question. If you could only pick one thing from, say... my death, my treasure, or your _permanent_ freedom, which would you choose?"

"What?" Leon lets his back go flat on the ground as he stares up at the beast pinning him, completely perplexed.

The blue of the dragon's eyes match the exact shade of the sky above him.

"You heard me. Choose one. Just a simple question, no pressure." The glint in the dragon's slit pupils tells Leon that this is some kind of test. Okay, well... he has no choice other than to participate.

Leon's throat bobs, and he shuts his eyes to think without the distraction of all those sharp teeth right over him. Sadly, that means he only grows more conscious of the weight and heat of the creature pinning him down. The scaly hands wrapped around his are warm. He thought the scales would be cold, but they're anything but.

"Tick, tock, prince... I said no pressure, but don't take forever." His hands are lightly squeezed. "Not that I can complain about the view."

Death, treasure, freedom... Killing the dragon, freeing the captive, or getting what he wants out of Rose? What's most valuable to him right now might not be the correct answer the dragon is looking for. Does the beast want him to be selfish? Or selfless? Which would be better received?

Sometimes the best thing to do is be up-front with one's desires.

Leon screws his eyes shut and throws his dice. "Your treasure. His freedom, I mean. That's what I really want."

A deep hum resonates above him. The dragon shifts his weight and pins Leon's wrists with a single hand, and draws the other one down to hold the prince's chin. The claw of Raihan's thumb pricks Leon's lower lip, and he opens his eyes again.

Raihan looks amused as he turns his focus to Leon's hair, spread around the grass.

"So you don't wish to kill me after all? Or does my death just happen to rank below the other things?" Raihan lets go of his chin and extends a claw. He lightly draws the tip of it down Leon's forehead, sorting out his bangs.

He wishes he could turn his head to hide the flush rising to his face, but, one, there's no way he can hide anything this close, and two, he'd rather not move when something so sharp is so near his eyes.

"I don't wish to kill you," he says, and it's the honest truth. "I only came to fight because I had no other choice. If I could get what I want without any bloodshed, I'd gladly do whatever it takes."

"Whatever it takes? Bold words." The dragon chuckles and Leon swears he can physically feel it. "So you'd sacrifice your chances for a stranger you've never met?"

Leon doesn't hesitate, doing his best to meet the dragon's eyes around the giant hand still toying at his bangs.

"Absolutely."

"Why?"

"Because it's the right thing to do."

The weight and shadow over him vanishes with a gust, and the sun beats upon him once more. Leon blinks up at the sky and pushes himself upright.

"Raihan...?"

Something golden flashes and halts inches from his nose. The hilt of his sword... He follows the blade up into a scaled grasp.

"Take up your sword, knight."

Unable to comprehend where this is going, Leon grasps the hilt hovering near his head and gets to his feet. The dragon is beaming like someone who just won a prize, which boggles his mind even more than being given back his sword.

"Sheathe it, and follow me. I think you'll like what I have to offer you, but whether or not this goes anywhere isn't up to either of us. Come!"

Raihan beckons with a claw, and sets off on foot towards the tower.

Confused, a little dazed, and extremely apprehensive (but somehow not nervous), what else can he do but follow?

Along the way, the dragon gives him a brief list of action items. Instructions, a plan. And warnings. Leon absorbs it all, nodding along as each sentence confuses him more than the last.

Don't be surprised by how beautiful he is, was the first warning, stated with pride. His treasure doesn't like to be reminded of home. He's there of his own free will (what?), but he still belongs to—chooses to be with, Raihan, and don't forget that, knight.

When the dragon suddenly stops and whirls around, eyes sparking and teeth bared in an open grin with a "great idea, this'll be hilarious," Leon's long given up on questioning anything, so he agrees to that too.

He's thrust towards a large wooden door. The tower is only part of a building, the tallest and most visible part of it. There's a whole house tucked among the hills. It's old, if the wind-weathered stones are anything to go by, but... very well-maintained. There's even a tiny garden nearby.

"Remember everything I told you," whispers the beast, dragging his focus back. "Now go."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Catch ya next time, when we finally get all 3 in the same room. Hope you liked this chapter!


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As per the fic summary, last chapter was "Leon crashes the party" and this chapter is where Leon is "extended an invitation of his own." :^)

Piers is halfway through a book he's already read five times before when there's a knock at the door at the bottom of the tower.

Strange... Raihan never knocks. Says it's beneath him. He hardly uses the front door in the first place.

Now suspicious, Piers closes the book, sets it aside on the tiny table near the bed, and disentangles himself from his self-made blanket nest to set his bare feet on the cold stone floor. The door downstairs is unlocked, so in the time before the knocker realizes they can enter on their own, Piers will get himself dressed.

He dons a loose white shirt whose deep frontal V was a mended accident from when Raihan tore it with his claws one evening. Ties his hair back with a cord. Washes his face in the basin kept atop the dresser. Right when he's done pulling up his breeches, the muffled creak of weather-rusted hinges reaches him.

"Hello?" A strange voice calls. One word isn't enough for Piers to discern origin by accent, but it's certainly not Raihan's voice, and that fact tops the importance scale here.

It has to be the knight, and this must be a ploy of that dragon's. If there were a real battle out there, Piers would have heard it. If Raihan actually died, he would have felt it. For there to be silence for such a long time, broken only by Raihan laughing at _something_ out there, and then a knock through the one entrance the dragon hardly uses, reeks of meddling.

He's going to play along. Because Raihan is undoubtedly fine and most likely watching, meaning nothing can happen to him here. And, because... it's been so long since he's spoken to someone who isn't himself or his draconic lover.

It's been years over years and he's not about to pass this up. He might hate people in general, but hearing that one simple 'hello' tugged at something within him.

"Up here!" He yells, and meanders to the bed. Maybe he should lounge upon it. Or hide under the covers. Or perhaps sitting on the windowsill will be more dramatic?

He wants to make a good first impression. He might be getting a little too eager to see a new face. It might not last long until Raihan intervenes, but he'll savor every second and every detail; he's already committed the one greeting he's heard to precious memory.

He ends up choosing the windowsill to sit upon. It's deep enough that he can perch along the edge without touching the net of Raihan's magic keeping the elements at bay. That's one solid sign that the dragon is fine, his magic is still in place.

Piers gazes out of it at the landscape, to help him smooth his anticipation into calm expectation. The field's looking particularly lovely today, bar the one burnt patch from Raihan's lightning fired a week past at the last person to come charging in. The edge of the forest in the distance fills out thicker every day.

The sky is blue, the grass is green, and the meadow is dotted with every other color except the red of spilled blood.

Footsteps on the stairs. The clink of metal on metal.

Then, a knock.

"Hello...?" A man's voice, sounding around his age.

Piers allows himself to bite his lip for only one moment before wiping his expression blank. He pulls a foot up onto the sill, rests his arm on his bent knee, and leans against the side of the window, making sure to look casually pensive as he stares out at the blue sky above. His heart rate is creeping higher at the prospect of talking to the another human for the first time since he was locked away by his psychotic father.

"Enter," he sighs, with every mote of vocal control he has to make it sound as effortless and unconcerned as possible. The opposite of how he's really feeling.

The door creaks open but no footsteps breach the space of the room. Piers resists the urge to look.

"Are... you the one the dragon...?"

Not very confident, is he. But his voice is nice, gentlemanly and honest and dare he say, friendly.

Piers swallows unseen, making a slight show of gazing out the window. Be still, heart. First impressions are everything. "Yeah, what of it? What brings you here, stranger?" he asks, as if he doesn't already know.

That wasn't too callous, was it?

When there's no immediate answer, Piers can't resist any longer. He turns on the sill and looks over his shoulder, and nearly lets his eyes widen in shock.

It's a young man, like he figured, but an incredibly fetching one. Broad shoulders, tan skin, windswept hair the color of the lavenders on the far side of Raihan's territory, with eyes bright and gold and earnest. He's never seen anyone like this before.

"Oh..." the stranger whispers, glancing over him.

Piers cants his head in curiosity and the man suddenly stands at attention, a tinge of red darkening his tan skin. It's kind of comforting knowing he isn't the only one unsteady on the inside.

"M-My name is Leon, Prince of Rhondeland." The so-called Prince Leon touches his opposite shoulder and swipes it to his chest in a formal greeting gesture that Piers hasn't seen in ages. "It's wonderful to meet you."

Raihan was wrong thinking this was just a knight. This is so much more.

Even if this man didn't just state his station out loud, the way he introduced himself screams _royalty._ So does his appearance; his hair, messy and windblown as it is, is luxuriously thick, nothing any low-class person could afford to maintain. Same goes for that meticulously-groomed facial hair. Interesting that his clothes seem so modest... That sword, though. Definitely top craftsmanship. The guard over the hilt is of a twisted, intricate style that he's never seen before. It looks like a flower. A rose.

Rhondeland, eh? Quite the distance from his old kingdom... He doesn't remember Rhondeland having a prince, but he does remember what a secretive country they were, and how the one time he met their king face to face as a child, he wanted to shiver.

This man doesn't give him nearly the same vibe. He also looks nothing like Rhondeland's king, from what Piers can remember. That man had dark hair, and colder eyes. Either... what was his name, Rose? Either Rose got overthrown and replaced, or this is some adoptive heir.

"I hope you'll grant me the honor of knowing your name," the prince says, going a whole extra courtesy mile and bowing, hair slipping over his shoulders. ...There's grass in it.

Piers slips away from the window and stands facing the stranger, body moving automatically to return the gesture's counterpart. Muscle memory, long unused but still keen, guides his salute, and the bow, and the smooth slide of a foot back to cross at the ankle. "Piers..." He catches himself before he can say something compromising. "Piers of nowhere."

Confusion creases Leon's brow. They both straighten, and neither take any steps closer or farther away as they take each other in with mutual curiosity. Piers stands there, a little self-conscious but betraying none of it. He should be used to staring thanks to Raihan. Honestly, he's not much better right now, drinking in every detail and mannerism he can detect from the prince, hungry just to see and interact and learn new things about a new person.

"I've never heard of a..." the prince starts, looking him over. Leon is obviously trying hard (and failing) to not stare too much. "A uh, Prince of Nowhere before."

So, he's clever. Piers raises a curled hand to his mouth to obscure his smile, somehow not minding that his status as an ex-royal was recognized. Conversing with another human—someone with a similar background, too—is filling a hole in his mind, one that he's deliberately ignored since he came to live with Raihan. Whatever that toothy git's intentions are, Piers plans on milking this for all it's worth.

"The place is far, far away from here. Ye wouldn'a heard of it," he lilts with a smile.

Leon perks up and smiles back. And what a smile it is. Maybe it's just because Piers hasn't seen a human smile in so long, but this prince is lighting up the room like a sunbeam. This is so much more thrilling than getting a new book to read from Raihan, it just can't compare.

The prince suddenly gasps and snaps his gloved fingers. It doesn't make the proper sound. Must be a habit of his. "Oh! But your accent—"

Piers' smile drops and he rushes to cut off the prince's line of thought. "Nowhere's got a similar accent to lotsa places. It ain't special."

Damn. He didn't think his accent of all things would be recognized all the way out here. Then again, he didn't think someone from a country near his home would show up in the middle of nowhere, either... A prince, to boot. Someone who's supposed to be educated about the world. He should have expected this.

To his surprise, the prince hurriedly nods, adjusting his gloves. "R-Right! Never heard of anywhere Nowhere might be. I'm terrible with directions, I must be confusing it with some other place in my head, heh..."

"...That so." Piers sighs and scratches the side of his head, combing through his hair with his fingers as he pulls his hand down. That was an unpleasant wake-up call. "Didn' ye come here for somethin' in particular? Doubt you came up for tea."

"Ah! Right, I almost forgot!" The handsome stranger beams again, nearly blinding him, before reigning himself in and visibly composing himself into something more professional. It's a fascinating thing to see.

Leon rests a hand on his sword's pommel, draws himself up, and states with more volume than is necessary for a stone-walled room like this.

"I, Leon... have slain the great and terrible beast guarding you. It was a noble battle, and I was nearly bested, but even such a... powerful and... terrifying dragon had to meet his end. You're free now, Piers," he announces, with a touch of bluster, a dash of awkwardness, and absolutely no sincerity. Like he's reading off a script.

Piers narrows his eyes at the hand stretched towards him, then up at the prince's face. He's only known Leon for about two minutes, but he can already tell that he's not the type to come up with and execute a blatant lie like that on his own. He can read people well, even if it has been a long time since he's had new material, and this is a man who's hiding more than just his own nerves. Leon's not even making eye contact. He's staring straight ahead at the opposite wall, lips tight like a little kid internally begging for mum not to ask what happened to the missing pie on the sill.

"Dunno what th' hell you're talkin' about," he flatly says.

"I—What do you mean?" A nervous laugh serves to corner Leon further. He's dodging Piers' gaze and pulling his hand back to himself, rubbing his gloved fingers together. "I really killed the... I mean, I thought you'd be more..."

"Excited?" he offers.

"Uhm..."

Piers arches a brow, unimpressed.

Then he hears the snicker. It's so faint it could have been wind scraping stone, but he knows that sound anywhere.

Without another word to the prince, Piers whirls around and marches back to the window. He grips the stone sill and leans halfway out of it, grimacing at the sudden cool breeze in his face that tosses and tangles his bangs.

"OI! I KNOW YOU'RE LISTENIN'! GET UP HERE, YOU BIG LIAR!" he bellows.

Behind him, the prince jolts. "L-Liar?" He stammers, voice high with panic.

Piers throws a dismissive wave over his shoulder and shouts out the window again. "I SAID GET YOUR SCALY ARSE UP HERE! JIG'S UP!"  
  
Powerful wingbeats stir the air into a frenzy. Piers leans back sharply and doesn't flinch when the window is suddenly filled with grinning dragon.

"Yo, Piers. I'm back from the grave, it seems." Raihan slides into the room, folding his wings and pulling his tail in so it's not dangling out the window. He's not even trying to hide the fact that he's a poke away from breaking into laughter. Smug git.

"Ya look well good fer a walkin' corpse," he snaps back. "Think you can spare the time to explain this?" He throws another wave behind him at their guest. "What's the big idea, stagin' that? You know I wouldn'a believed you died, but jokin' about it still ain't funny."

The dragon has the good grace to look a little sheepish, but for Raihan, that's not much. His wings and tail droop a little and that's about it. "Aw, I knew you wouldn't believe him, that was the point. I wanted to mess with him, not you. Sorry if I worried you, Piersy." The dragon puts on a winning pout and Piers has to look away.

He can never stay mad at Raihan for long. Not when he's never had malicious intentions—selfish, sure, misguided, sometimes, but never malicious—and not when he's stupidly endearing with that pout. Makes Piers want to kiss it off his stupid face.

"Wait a second." Across the room, Leon's face is pinched with the soreness of unpleasant realization, that he was meant to be the butt of the joke. "So when you said something was going to be hilarious, you meant me?"

Raihan laughs and Piers lets himself be pulled against a hard chest. "Sorry, knight, I couldn't resist. It was too funny!"

"You seem bent on toying with me." Leon crosses his arms, looking put out but not all that angry. Impressive, considering.

"Aw, no harm done." The hands on his shoulders rub and squeeze. "I just wish I could have seen when you first laid eyes on my treasure. He's beautiful, isn't he?"

Did Raihan bring the knight up here just to brag? Piers rolls his eyes, pushing away from his draconic lover and getting another pout in return. "Will you stop that?"

"Why should I? I only speak the truth. Isn't that right, knight? Isn't he pretty?"

The Rhondeland prince's frown is rendered ineffective by a hot blush. He tries to hide it with a cough behind a hand, but all three of them know there's no pretending otherwise.

"I... y-yes, he is. I admit, I didn't believe you when he said he was here of his own free will, but..." Leon visibly sheds his embarrassment and focuses his attention, golden eyes wide and searching and pinning Piers where he stands. "You're no prisoner, are you...?"

It takes a lot of will to break eye contact. Piers sets his weight on one leg and crosses his arms, casting his gaze around the circular room to avoid being caught by that intense gaze again. He just needs some time to get used to it.

"Aye, this here's m' home. Haven't lived here long, but time will change that, given that nobody forces us to move."

Raihan snorts, offended at the very notion. "That'll never happen."

The prince rubs the back of his neck and Piers' eye catches on the bicep pushing at the material of the shirt.

"I see... I ah, I'm sorry that I had the wrong idea. When I first learned about you, I thought you were being held against your will by the dragon. And wanted to save you."

What a familiar and joyfully misguided sentiment.

"How nice," he dryly comments.

Awful lucky this prince is to not get killed with motivations like that. Raihan's got a hair trigger when it comes to anything threatening to take his 'treasure' away. Even Piers idly mentioning makes him growly and restless and needing a few words and a hug to calm him down.

But here Raihan is, standing casually in the same room as someone who wanted to 'rescue' him.

Sensing his skepticism, Raihan pipes up. "Why don't you let Leon here talk about himself? He's got some interesting things to say, you know. I think you'll like his story."

Piers narrows his eyes. "This ain't like you, Rai... Not sayin' I oppose the company, but why did you even let him up here if he wanted to take me?"

"Just hear him out." Raihan eagerly smiles and steps forward, hungry for approval. "You'll see why. Just listen."

Just hear him out, he says. Alright then. An explanation is all Piers wants right now. Instead of outright saying yes, he sighs and lolls his head to look at their guest, and gestures towards a large cushy chair on the other side of the room.

"Have a seat. Ye must be tired, travelin' all this way and havin' t'deal with this bugger. You want tea? Anything to eat?"

Leon hesitantly makes his way towards the chair and lowers himself into it stiff as an old man.

"Thank you for the hospitality. But no thank you, I'm... quite alright."

Piers holds his tongue on telling Leon, who was literally just outside tussling with Raihan to some degree (how else would grass have gotten into his hair), to relax and accept the refreshments. He doesn't want to be overbearing on their very first guest in their home.

"Let me know otherwise." He pads over to the bed, perching on the edge of it. Raihan happily crosses the distance and collapses onto the bed next to him, wing flexing and forming a cozy but unrestrictive space around his back.

Leon finally tugs off those gloves, setting them in his lap and folding his hands on top of them.

"...Light above, I don't know where to start..."

Raihan's laugh dispels the tension radiating off the seated prince. "Tell him what you told me. My treasure's a very good listener, aren't you, babe?" He turns to Piers and grins. From the corner of Piers' eye, Leon blinks like he's taken off guard by the nickname. "I know you'll love this. I heard some of it already, and I'm telling you—"

"Shut up 'n let him speak, ye big lug." There's no acid behind his words. Out of habit, he rests a hand on Raihan's thigh and leans into the dragon's side, whose wing pulls in closer to compensate, arm curling around his waist as well. Nice and warm. Perfect for sitting and listening.

...Listening doesn't happen yet, because Leon isn't starting to talk. He's just staring at their intimate position, and Piers traces his line of sight down to hand-on-thigh.

Alright, they won't get anywhere without letting the guy address the elephant in the room first.

"Oi." Leon jerks his head up. "See somethin' ye like, or what."

That seems to slap some composure back into the prince. He sits up straight with a shake of his head, dislodging the few remaining blades of grass in his hair. They fall onto the arms of the chair, seemingly unnoticed by the man they hitchhiked in on.

"I apologize, that was unbecoming of me. I'm still processing all of this. That you're actually... uhm. Friends. With a dragon."

At his side, Raihan makes a disbelieving sound that completely masks the tiny _snrk_ that escapes him. " _Friends?_ Piers is my—"

"You could say we're friends, yeah," he interjects, barely able to keep his mouth neutral. "Very, _very_ close friends. Ain't that right, _luv?_ "

The dragon lapses into a low growl and possessively pulls him closer, not at all pleased at having their relationship downplayed.

"I... see. My apologies." Leon fidgets, and not even a second later blurts out, "I'm sorry for trying to kill him earlier."

He can't help but stifle a laugh at that. He hides his smile behind one hand and waves with the other, hoping to tone down the other's worries.

"Don't worry about it. I've wanted to kill him myself a few times." Sharp nails poke into his waist where he's ticklish and he jolts, trying to mask it as just him adjusting his posture. "But we're not here to talk about me, are we? Rai said you have a story, so let's hear it."

He does his best to subtly push the clawed hand away from his waist, while the hand does its best to subtly stay right where it is, claws and all.

Leon glances over them once more, taking in the sight of nature's scariest predator wrapped around a frail thing like himself and raising a concerned brow at the straight-faced squirming Piers is doing. When the tickling gets to be too much, Piers cracks and hisses up at his partner. "Stop that!"

Raihan only laughs and nuzzles down into his hair, which softens his edge immediately even though he's conscious of how intensely the prince is watching their interactions.

Thank the stars the air doesn't turn awkward, because Leon finally relaxes into the stuffy chair, pushing a hand up into his bangs and letting them flop back down.

"Alright. I'm not used to talking about myself so much, so forgive me if I don't convey myself well... I'll keep it as brief as I c—"

"No," Piers jumps in. He sat up straight without realizing. "I'd... like to hear the full thing, if you would."

Leon furrows his brows and Piers has to look away, embarrassed at making such a sudden request. He should have kept his mouth shut.

"Are you sure? It's... kind of a lot..."

"Aw, c'mon, knight. Won't you indulge us? I love hearing a nice long story." His waist gets a firm squeeze, both as a reassurance and as a belated apology for all the tickling. "Don't leave anything out. From the top, let's hear it!"

"O-Oh, if you really want to hear, then, okay!" The eagerness in Leon's voice is an arrow to the heart, and that's saying nothing about his face. You could flash that smile to a court full of master artists and give them a century's worth of inspiration at once.

It's certainly doing something to Piers, even if he wouldn't call himself a master artist by any means. But he needs to focus on listening, not getting swept up in a man with summer-sunrise eyes and an aura so honest and genuine it'd make the most tight-lipped sinner confess down to the pettiest of their crimes, and a body like— _dammit!_

Piers' lapse in concentration is unknowingly masked by Raihan, who answers the prince with his usual lack of hesitation.

"Of course! We wanna hear what you've got to say. Lay it on us, we'll listen to every word," Raihan encourages with enthusiasm, and Piers' confidence (and his ability to focus) catches a ride on it.

"Yeah. We will." He offers his own tiny smile. "Been a while since I've heard any stories that aren't Rai's, so blather as much as you need. I welcome it."

Leon's golden eyes are wide and disbelieving, but carry a sparkle of _is this too good to be true?_ that has Piers' chest twisting in sympathy. He makes sure that Leon can see he's listening attentively, making eye contact that only lasts a moment before the pretty gold vanishes and the prince takes a starting breath.

"Okay. I'll do my best."

The prince's expression condenses in concentration for a moment, until he opens his eyes, and his mouth, and begins to piece together his story.

And what a story it is. As the tale goes on, Piers' brow furrows and he sits up straighter against the dragon's side.

He was right, Leon isn't of royal blood; he was adopted into the royal family as Rose's heir. Plucked off the streets from slums that no longer exist. Trained from a young age, such a young age...

It was years before he could meet King Rose face to face, and the first thing the king did was test the teenager's skill with a sword by drawing his own. Leon's prize for passing the test was being called son, and having his training double in intensity from that day forward. As Rose's son, he was never allowed to lose when a sword was in his hand. Never. Victory was all that mattered. And somehow Leon managed to live up to such astronomical expectations without going crazy.

It's such a hindsight relief that Leon's still able to smile at all.

Piers always knew that Rhondeland's King Rose was a shady guy, but this is insane. It doesn't sound like he cares about Leon at all. The prince obviously isn't comfortable calling that man father. It's always "my king" or "Rose" whenever the man has to be referred to with more than a generic pronoun.

Raihan doesn't bat an eye when Leon talks about the first time he was made to kill, while Piers frowns and leans his head against his partner for a spot of comfort that's easily given, in the form of a caress to his hip.

As an ex-royal himself, Piers' heart does go out to him. This titular prince just wants some freedom to be himself instead of the emotionless weapon his king wants him to be. Leon talks as if Rose will never grant it to him fully, like it's not in his fate to have, but he's willing to fight even for the tiniest, humblest crumbs of independence, and Piers can respect that. He's done it himself, in the past. Fighting, rebelling, trying to escape. Leon wasn't put under literal lock and key like he was, but Rose's roots reach deeper into Leon than Piers' father's did him.

It's almost surreal to see someone else in such a similar boat. A lifeboat, to take the idiom further, trying to get away from the same bigger ship. The S.S. Crazy King. Leon's is a sham of a father, a dad in title only. Obviously doesn't love his son. Seems to love his _champion_ just fine, though...

Piers' father cared about him a little too much. Enough to lock him away in a remote castle just so nothing could 'hurt him' or 'take him away' (and look how well that last part went). Piers nearly went insane in isolation, and it sounds like Leon nearly went the same way, even if his prison was far less physical.

And that's the biggest difference between their situations. Leon got his chance to stretch his own wings, while Piers had to borrow someone else's to get away.

He understands now, why Raihan brought him here.

He's honestly surprised at the dragon's sympathy to a stranger. There's no way that Raihan would have done this if he never met Piers and never cared about him.

His middle is squeezed as the prince's story comes to a close, catching up to current events. Encountering the dragon, how they almost fought but the dragon refused to battle multiple times over (Raihan's lips are tight in a bashful line), and how, after grilling him with confusing questions, brought him to this tower and told him to tell the captive he won, without any explanation as for why, but now he understands that it was just a joke, and while it wasn't a very funny one to him, he's glad it was something harmless.

"And... here I am, I suppose. Sorry if that was long-winded, I'm really not used to talking about myself. Nobody's ever wanted to hear my side of things before... But it was nice! Happened twice in one day, even." He laughs and rubs the back of his neck, a clear nervous habit. Nervous just from talking about himself, this is heartbreaking.

The more he sees and hears, the more Piers is confident that Leon is a major ray of sunshine intentionally stifled by some serious clouds. What would it take to get him to shine? Sounds like all he needs is to get away from his old life and put himself under a new sky, but the prince is so determined to get back home and change things with his own power. To poke holes in that stifling stratus just so he can breathe.

Piers leans a smidge more against his partner, a frown creasing his expression.

A selfish part of him wants to offer Leon to just... stay here. To run away, say _fuck Rhondeland, fuck Rose_ , and settle here, where they can get to know each other, and maybe be friends, far away from the chains of authority under the watchful eye of a beast powerful enough to protect them.

But that would be too much to ask. He can't ask Leon to cut ties with his life. For Piers it was easy, since his old life cut him out first by shutting him away where no one could see him, under the guise of safety and protection. Leon has an extremely public presence at home, both as their prince and as their champion, their strongest warrior.

Piers had the privilege of being able to vanish without trouble. For Leon it would not be that simple. Too many people would notice if he simply went missing.

Well. There actually is an easy solution to that, but there's no way Leon would agree to it.

If his time with Leon ends with a day of conversation, Piers will have to be content with that. He's already grateful just for this chance to meet someone so friendly and radiant, suppressed as that radiance is. If only he had the chance to crack those shackles and see what the man is truly capable of...

"Well, treasure of mine?" A warm touch under his chin coaxes him to turn and look up. Raihan's eyes are warm, glittering with the desire to please. "Do you like him?"

He answers after taking a slow, deep breath.

"I do. Thank you fer not killin' him. And lettin' us meet. It was a nice experience... And thank you, Leon, for tellin' us about you. I wish there was somethin' we could do to could help you."

"No, no, you've helped me already. I feel like... It's hard to explain, but I feel lighter. Just by talking about that stuff, even if none of it's new to me. Thank you, Piers. Raihan. And I should probably say the same thanks, dragon, for not killing me."

White fangs show inside a self-satisfied smile. "Oh, there can be a lot more you thank me for. You two are talking like this'll be over soon."

...Will it not? What does Raihan...

It finally dawns on him. That Raihan has been on the same page he is, except much more determined to reach the end of the book. Piers pushes away, mouth hanging open with a dozen different things on the tip of his tongue ready to jump off. He swallows and settles with:

"Raihan, we can't just... I'm not saying I wasn't thinking the same thing, but we can't just—"

"Of course we can." His wings rustle and his tail curls across the furs adorning the bed. "Why else would I bring him here? He reminded me so much of you, and he looks about your age, and I know that you miss other humans even if you always say you hate them for what they did to you. So I wanted to bring this one to you."

"I thought this was just a visit!"

"If you didn't like him, it would have been just a visit. I had to make sure you did, otherwise I'd have to turn him away. But I'm glad you like him, now we can keep him without any trouble."

He flushes, both at the sheer thoughtfulness and the sheer audacity. Raihan's talking about the prince like he's an adoptable stray. Yes, they may both want to help Leon escape his kingdom, and do it by opening their home to him, but that doesn't mean they can just assume Leon will go along with it just like that.

"That's very thoughtful of you, but..." His eyes drift towards the centerpiece of all this, but a hot hand on his cheek reels his attention back.

"But what? It's a great idea?" Raihan tries to put words in his mouth, daring to look proud. "I tested him out there. He's honorable, and put your needs above his, even if he had the wrong idea of what your needs were at first. And he wants to be free too, just like you did. It's perfect."

That's enough. They can't keep talking as if Leon isn't sitting right there, listening to his fate be debated over by two complete strangers. Something guilty is squirming behind Piers' throat at the idea of Leon being a passive participant in something so big. The way he's staying silent doesn't bode well.

Piers knocks the scaly hand away from his face and glances over his shoulder. All he can read is shock, which is better than a lot of the other reactions the prince could be having...

With a tight sigh, Piers rises from the bed and moves to a spot that puts him equidistant from the others, pointedly facing away from his partner to give the other party his full, empathetic attention.

"Leon," he starts.

"Piers." The prince does a fantastic job responding evenly given how shaken he looks. "I..." He swallows. "Is he saying that... he wants me to stay here?"

That's putting it in gentler terms.

"Yeah. But don't worry, he's not gonna force you. I'm sorry for this overgrown lizard gettin' ahead of himself. He's got a bad habit of imposin' his will on others without askin', see."

"Hey, you were happy to let me decide to kidnap _you_ !" Raihan surges to his feet. "I just thought I could help him like I helped you back then. And help _you_ more _by_ helping him. Didn't you hear his story? You were thinking the same thing I did, I know you were. He can stay here with us! Don't you want that, Piers?"

Now it's his turn to trip up. He rounds on Raihan, unable to keep a cool head anymore. "I- I didn't say I didn't—look, what I want ain't relevant, all of this is up to him, not us. It's his life, _he_ has to choose. Not you, not me, and certainly not you on behalf of either of us."

"Then ask him, Piers. Ask him so he can say yes. Or no," Raihan is quick to add. "You're better at words than I am, so I'll leave this up to you."

When Raihan doesn't get a response, he continues, voice lower and softer and meant just for his partner. "I brought him here because I wanted to give you a new opportunity to be happy. All I want is for you to be happy, remember that."

He's never once forgotten.

Piers takes a deep breath and calms himself.

Raihan's only thinking of what's best for him. Now it's his job to think about what's best for Leon. The problem here is that everyone in this room knows what the root of the issue is—Rose's chokehold on his son's life—but there's two sides on how to fix it. Going back and negotiating with the vines to loosen, versus slipping away while they're temporarily loose and being free forever.

...It's obvious which one's better, Piers would like to think, but it's not about what he thinks, it's about what Leon thinks, and potentially, how he can be convinced.

Gods, that sounds so underhanded. He'd hate if he influenced Leon's decision in any way by being unwittingly manipulative. Leon seems like such a kind and considerate man and he's already been taken advantage of for most of his life. It'd be downright villainous if Piers tried taking advantage of him too, especially for something as selfish as wanting more company. As if Raihan isn't enough for him already.

He takes a deep breath and finally addresses the prince once more. "Look... Leon... I'll be as up-front as I can. You don't have to go back to Rhondeland. There's other ways to get what you want, if what you're wantin' is to get away from the life you're currently living."

Leon looks smaller, somehow.

"How...? I've already thought of so many plans, but none of them would ever work. What I'm doing right now is my best shot at changing my situation. It's all I can do."

"There's always other ways. Especially when they come unexpectedly. Like right now. You don't have to go back, you can stay here. With us," he feels the need to clarify, even though it's obvious.

When Leon doesn't answer, Piers' mouth runs on its own. As he rambles, Raihan saunters to his side.

"I know it's no palace, but we're self-sufficient here. We're far from the nearest village, and they're all too scared of Raihan to come close to our territory. He does a good job protecting this place. It's safe here, I've never felt safer anywhere in me life. He let me turn this place into a home, and..."

_And it can be your home too, if you want it._

He can't bring himself to say.

Beside him, Raihan's hand is twitching and his spine is ramrod straight. Piers glances upwards and startles at how softly those bright blue eyes are staring him down. He tears his eyes away, breath hitching when a strong arm wraps around his waist and jerks him closer.

Raihan takes over, and it's a relief. "It's like he said, knight. I can keep you safe here if that's your concern. Not that you're helpless, I've seen firsthand. But if you choose to stay, you'll be under my protection. There's nothing a dragon's better at than protecting what's theirs."

The conviction in his voice, hard and sturdy as the finest forged steel, would surely have convinced Piers if he was on the other side of it. It's what gave Piers the strength to reach out and fall into those arms that fateful day a year ago. It's incredible how changing your life can be as terrifyingly simple as saying _yes_ to the right person.

He swallows and adds his own piece. "It doesn't have to be here, Leon. If you want to run away, we'll help you get to wherever you need to go. This isn't about us wanting you to stay—"

"But we do, just saying."

"—It's about us wanting to help you. What I want is to help you," he amends. He can't speak for Raihan.

The arm around his waist loosens and gentles into a hug. "Then that's what I want as well."

How can he be so damnably sweet. Piers would love to turn and throw his arms around his partner's neck, but he can't, not yet. Right now, this is all about Leon.

* * *

Run... away?

Leon thought he discarded that as an option. Normally he would say _no, that's impossible, I would if I could, but I can't, I really can't._

But. He's never thought about running away with variables like these in play. Namely, having a place to stay, not having to be on the run, having... company. He wouldn't be alone.

These two are saying he wouldn't have to be alone.

He finds himself swallowing and slowly getting to his feet, unable to have this conversation while sitting and below them.

"I..." He falls back on courtesy first and foremost, as he's always been taught. "I thank you for this generosity. You barely know me, but you want to help me. And I'm very thankful, but I can't..."

He makes the mistake of meeting Piers' eye. This is the most beautiful person he's ever seen in his life, and he seems so... forlorn. Guilt tugs at Leon's gut and he finds himself redirecting what he was about to say. He can't outright reject someone like _that._ He'd feel terrible. These people just want to help him.

Some part of him actually wants to be convinced.

This is too good to be true, but the way this runaway royal and his dragon friend are speaking, it sounds so, so possible. He wants to cling to their conviction and let it give him hope. It would be foolish to let them do this, but he can't help but let a tiny part of him fantasize...

"I can't ask you to take on my burdens. It wouldn't be right."

Instead of acceptance, a spark of challenge lights in both their eyes.

"You think we're not up to snuff, knight?" Raihan chuckles and refolds his wings much the same way someone re-crosses their legs. "You're looking at the top of the food chain here. And Piers wouldn't be at my side if he was weak. ...Well, maybe physically he's not that strong, but—"

"What he's saying is," Piers interrupts, looking mildly annoyed at his friend, "to not worry about burden this-or-that. We heard your story, we know what we want to do. Besides, consider this. No one asked _you_ if you wanted to take on Rose's burdens, did they?"

Ah.

When he says it like that, it's...

"...Wow, baby, I think you got him there. Good job."

"Shut up, we're not tryin' to corner him into saying yes. This ain't a game..."

"If it was you'd do a good job, though."

"Tch." Piers lightly elbows the dragon in the side, to no effect. "So, Leon? It's not a question of if we're capable or not. The only question you need to ask yourself, the only thing that matters here, is if you want this."

_If I want this..._

A question he's never been able to ask himself. For all his life, not once has it ever been about what he wanted. So many things were chosen for him, and whenever some critical decision needed to be made, it was always Rose, Rose, Rose, who took the reins and fingered the whip and nodded to wherever he needed to go.

_What do I want? Not as the Prince of Rhondeland, but as me..._

A vision flashes in his mind. A pan, a small fire, breakfast. Three plates.

"This is ridiculous," he shakily laughs and brings a hand to his temple. "I can't just..."

The two men before him separate. Raihan stays where he is, while Piers takes a slow step closer, feet not making a single sound on the stone floor. If Leon saw this sight in the middle of the night he'd think he was being approached by a ghost.

"Yes you can just," Piers finishes. "When's the last time you ever did anythin' for yourself that mattered? This journey you're on right now is it, yeah?"

He nods, and answers. "This was my one chance."

"It still is your chance. You can still do something with this. It sounds t'me like you're long overdue for doin' what you want with your life. After everythin' you've been through, you deserve to be more selfish. If you want it, go fer it, who cares what Rose wants."

"Yeah! Your king can go fuck himself." The dragon laughs.

For some reason, the instinct—the taught and learned reaction—to defend his king whenever he's insulted doesn't come.

That actually felt really good to hear. Really, really good.

He glances over the black-and-white-haired head. The dragon gives him a wide smile that manages to be encouraging despite the display of so many sharp teeth. When he looks back down, Piers is another step closer, and seems to be content with staying right there. When Leon gauges the space between in the room, he realizes that Piers stopped just shy of the halfway point between the dragon and himself.

He's not so dense that he can't recognize the symbolism there. But he doesn't think he could move his legs even if he tried. His whole body feels locked in place despite his mind and soul itching to take a step forward.

Leon licks his lips. Being selfish for once... Doing what he wants for no reason other than wanting to do it. It's such a simple concept, but one that's always eluded him because it was never an option.

"...Well, prince?" Piers touches at a small necklace Leon didn't notice before. It looks like a locket. "What do you want to do?"

Say it.

_Say it. Be selfish. Take the chance. Let them help you._

"I want to run away."

A loud whoop shatters the tension in the air and makes him and Piers jolt.

" _YES!_ I knew you'd come around! I swear I was gonna lose it if you spent all that time thinking and fretting only to say no. Damn, you made me worry for a sec there, knight. So, are you staying with us or not?"

"Rai!" Piers hisses over his shoulder. "One thing at a time, this is a big change for him."

"Well, better to get it all out of the way at once then, right?"

"Absolutely not! We can't ask him to..."

Leon watches as the two get into an argument. It happened so fast there's not much else he can do. The bands around his chest loosen and his body feels less like a cage, but he takes this time to just observe and think.

He can't help but be fascinated by their interactions. The dynamic between this ethereal human and intimidating beast is so... alive. This whole place is filled with life. And it's not just the two residents going back and forth right now, there's evidence all over the place that show just how much of a home this is. The garden out front. The dried flowers hanging from this room's walls, and the live ones in a tiny jar atop a desk with papers spread across its surface. The bed, big enough for two, with a slight dip on one side where a much heavier body must lay every night. They must be really close to share a bed...

A sharp sigh snags his attention, and Leon's gaze is drawn to Piers. Even when heated, the runaway royal has an air of composure around him. His words are sharp and his retorts come quickly, and Leon can easily see what Raihan meant by Piers being strong despite his delicate-looking body. This man is so much more than a beautiful face, and the urge to get to know him surges up so strong that Leon almost takes a step closer to their bickering.

But he stays where he stands, and looks and listens and understands.

"Raihan, he said he has some time. We can let him rest and ask again later, there's no need to push him to make more big decisions."

"Let him rest here, huh? Come on, I know what you're afraid of losing, just trust him and ask him right now. Everything'll turn out the way it's supposed to."

"But you don't _know_ that, Rai, what if..."

They're still going strong, but not once are insults hurled or tempers raised. These are two people who respect each other. And care about each other despite whatever disagreements come between them.

There's love here, he realizes. In this isolated house in this isolated territory meant to keep people away, there's love and warmth and two happy lives.

For all Rhondeland was supposed to be his home, and for all Rose claims to be a father, Leon never felt this type of warmth from either one. He never felt like part of a family. What he's seeing right here... This is a family. A runaway prince and a dragon made it work, and they so clearly, obviously belong together. They have something precious with each other.

He can't believe they're willing to let him be a part of it.

Raihan wants him here. Piers...

His thoughts stutter to a halt.

He actually doesn't know what Piers wants. Not from his own mouth. Raihan's been the one speaking for what Piers wants. Leon swallows and waits for the right time to ask, because he can't give them any sort of answer without knowing this.

"Hey... Piers?" He asks in the space between two verbal parries, quieter than both their voices. The arguing stops.

The man he addressed turns and faces him again, and Leon notes the lack of any residual fire in those ice-green eyes. It's like he was never in the middle of a heated back-and-forth at all. "Yes?"

"Do you want me here?" It feels like something a child would ask. "I- I know Raihan does, and he says you do too, but... I'd like to hear it from you. This was your home first, and I'd hate to impose in any way..." Leon minutely cringes.

Piers' expression softens. "You'd never. I do want you to stay. But I've got selfish reasons for it. Really selfish reasons. So don't let what I want influence your choice."

Leon swallows around a sudden tightness in his throat.

"No," he says in a half-whisper. "I want it to influence my choice. Can you tell me? Why you want me here?"

"Oh..." For the first time, Leon sees what Piers looks like when he's blushing. It's such a stunning sight that he almost forgets to listen.

"It's jus'... been a while. Since I've met another human face to face. It's only been me 'n Rai for about a year, and for years before that, it's just been me." Raihan steps up behind the other human and rests an arm around his thin shoulders. Piers' hand drifts up to rest over the dragon's. The way they touch each other is so effortless.

The tendons show in Piers' bony hand when he gives Raihan's a tighter grip. "I might not have shown it, but I was real eager to meet you. When I realized I had a visitor down there, I got excited," he admits like it's something embarrassing. Leon leans in without realizing. "And now that I've met you, I think you're fascinatin', and I wanna get to know you even more. But I want to help you more'n anything. My priority's helpin' you, not indulgin' myself... 'S why I said not to factor in what I want... it matters less than what you want."

Piers was excited...? Wants to get to know him?

Wait, matters less? No, what Piers wants should matter even more! Piers is the one who lives here, who might be inconvenienced by adding another person to the household.

"Hey, Piersy, don't say that..."

Leon takes a breath to speak, but doesn't say anything right away, distracted by how quick the dragon is to comfort. He's leaning down, stroking the back of a claw down Piers' cheek, who's stubbornly looking straight at Leon, challenging him to speak.

His heart is pounding just as hard as it was when he was confronting the dragon outside.

"...I think you're fascinating, too. I'd also like to get to know you more. If I did decide to stay here, then... I think that we could be friends."

Piers suddenly looks away, bangs settling and hiding his face, but the tiny bit that Leon can see, the tip of his nose, is extremely pink. Raihan's expression of delight gives the rest of it away.

"Ooo, you said the magic word, prince!" He cackles as Piers throws an elbow back, making an audible hit against his side that the dragon probably didn't even feel. "Ahh, but seriously. As much as I'd love for Piers' world to only have me in it, I know that's not what's best for him. He needs more than just me. If you stay with us, everyone wins. You get to escape your fate, my treasure gets to be happier, and I..."

Piers clears his throat, still hiding behind his hair, and growls, "Yeah, what's in it for you? I'm touched you've thought of this for my sake, but that can't be all."

The dragon grins and puffs out his chest, drawing a hand down the back of his neck in an obvious preen. "Isn't it obvious? I get to have not one, but _two_ beauties in my territory. How can I complain about that?"

A bright loud laugh unfamiliar to his own ears has both their heads turning. It's gone as quick as it came. Leon's hands are hovering near his face and he stares at them, feeling the heat from caught breath dissipate away. His ears are ringing from how loud that was. That sound came out of him.

Heat rushes to his face and he hastily bows. "I- I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..."

"Pick your head up, I'm done havin' people bow t'me." Piers turns away, but sends a glancing smirk over his shoulder that has Leon's breath stuttering for an entirely different reason. "Rai, you git, we ain't collectibles," he sing-song chastises.

"But baaabe!" Raihan whines. "I'm a duh- _ragon_!" He presents his claws and leisurely flaps his wrists to swipe the air. "That's what we're all about! Is it a crime to enjoy fine art in one's home?"

"No, but if the art's tellin' ya to fuck off, I'm sure you're doin' somethin' wrong."

Leon fails to suppress a wheeze. He throws a hand over his mouth, doing his best to stifle his laughter without obstructing his ability to speak. "S-Sorry!" He forces a cough out and nearly chokes on it. "I-It's rude of me to... to..."

Raihan looks giddy. His tail is undulating and his slit-pupil eyes are glinting and dilated. "Rude? To give a gift like that? Oh no, prince, by all means, continue. I want more of that."

Now extremely self-conscious, Leon easily gets himself under control, much to the visible disappointment of Raihan. He apologizes a third time to get the whole thing out. "I'm sorry for being so loud, I didn't mean to disrupt discussion like that."

"You call that disruptin'?" Piers finally faces him again, face still pink but expression light. "Laughin' when people are bein' silly ain't disruptin', so don't apologize for it. If I'm bein' honest, we were both eggin' you on there. You've got a lovely laugh. Don't hide it."

"...What was that you said about not pushing him? I think you broke him, babe."

Piers' smile drops into concern. "Leon? Oi..."

"I'm fine! Sorry." He blinks and presses the heel of his hand to his forehead. He feels hot. And his chest is so tight. "That's just... the first time anyone's said something like that to me. In Rhondeland, I've never... was never allowed to..." He borrows Rose's words. "Waste time on frivolities. N-Not to say that you two are frivolous, I... I like this, a lot. I can't remember the last time I..."

He catches half a heated whisper, only making out the words 'hellhole' and 'Rai, please...'

Without a word, Raihan pushes forward and easily reaches into his personal space. A hot hand claps onto his shoulder, steers him to the middle of the room, and stops him right in front of Piers. Those sea-green eyes are brimming with compassion, and as much as it makes Leon's chest ache to see, he can't look away.

A heavy arm rests around his shoulders and Piers gets the same.

"Alright. Real talk."

The room shadows. Raihan stands perpendicular to them both and leans down until he's roughly on eye level with them, wings lifting and spreading to form a completely enclosed canopy around this one-sided huddle. The space is warm, red-toned from the light filtering through the membrane of the wings, and Leon becomes acutely aware of the sound of his breathing.

"Piers. Leon. You both know what I want." Raihan's rich voice is amplified in the enclosed space despite him hushing his volume down. His fearsome head angles towards the ex-royal, whose pale skin and white-streaked hair seem to glow in the dark lighting. "Treasure of mine, I know what you want, too. All that's missing here is us knowing a little more about what Leon wants. And I don't just mean running away from home. We got that. What I want to hear is an answer to our offer. If it turns out we all want the same thing... then Leon, you can get it starting right now. We just need to hear a yes."

He's suddenly unable to speak. He's still trapped in Piers' gaze. It's searching him, much the same way that Rose searches his eyes for lies or disobedience, but Piers doesn't seem to be looking for anything like that. He's not digging, just... exploring. Leon doesn't feel like a bug pinned on a board. He feels seen.

Pale lips part. "Hey, Leon..."

Just like that, he can speak again, but it's rough. "Yes?"

"Are you really willin' t' leave everythin' behind you? Your castle, your riches... the people who might notice you're gone?"

"Yes." He answers without thinking, still caught in those deep, deep eyes. "I don't care about wealth. I came from nothing, I have no problem returning to nothing. And for all the people that might miss me, I don't think any of them ever..." His throat tightens. He speaks around it. "Cared about me. As a person."

The warm tent tightens and the air heats hotter. Raihan leans in further, pulls both of them closer. The dragon smells like stormy weather and the promise of rain. "Wanna live with people who care?"

His heart throws itself against his ribcage, again and again and again. He wouldn't be surprised if the dragon could hear it.

"Yes," he whispers. It's so quiet he can barely hear it himself.

In the corner of his vision, a pale hand drifts up. It's slow and steady, like it doesn't want to spook, and when it gets close enough that Leon can feel its chill, he shivers and has to close his eyes. The arm around his shoulders feels even heavier but it's not stifling. He should be feeling claustrophobic here, but the only feeling he has is warmth and a strange sense of invulnerability, like right here, in this secret little space with these two other people, nothing could ever hurt him.

Cold fingertips touch his cheek. A tiny sound escapes him and he shivers again, not from the temperature shock but from how gently he's being touched. The barely-there caress becomes a hand cupping his cheek and he can't stop his body from leaning into it, eyes screwing shut even harder and heart thudding with every subtle brush of skin on skin.

"Can we be those people?" Piers whispers. His cold hand draws away and some starved part of Leon wails at the loss.

He opens his eyes. Compared to the heat and the ember-like glow of light through wing, the dragon's eyes are a little pair of windows into a fresh blue sky.

"We'll take care of you, knight. You can have a home here. We're nothing like where you came from, and from what I've heard, that's a good thing."

"I..."

"You won't be imposin'." If Raihan's eyes are spots of the sky, Piers' are pools of the sea. Deep and gentle, capable of wrecking ships or taking people safely home. Home... "There's plenty of space for another. And if you're concerned with bein' useless, there's always plenty around here that needs doin'. We want you here, Leon, but it's your choice in the end. If you wanna run away somewhere else, we'll help you get there safe."

There's nothing he can say that won't be soothed over or reassured, he can sense it. He knows that at this point there's nothing stopping him from saying yes other than his own lack of courage.

Does he want this?

Completely. More than he's wanted anything in his life.

_Then take it. Be bold._

"What say you?" Leon lifts his gaze from where he unknowingly lowered it. "Needin' more time to think is a valid answer. We'll understand if—"

"Yes."

The arm around him tenses.

"...What?" Piers' eyes widen and his pale throat bobs. "You mean you need more time to think?"

Elaborating is easy and exhilarating compared to the hurdle that was giving that 'yes,' and with every word out of his mouth something expands in his chest until it pricks behind his eyes and spills over.

"I want to stay here. I want to live with you both. I want to get to know you two and I'll help out with whatever you need. I promise I'll do my fair share of work and I swear I'll nev— _urk!_ "

He's crushed against a hard chest before he can finish processing that he was moved. Everything's bright and fresh air whirls around him. Something soft tickles his face and he realizes that Piers is being smothered right along with him. It's hard to breathe, Raihan's hugging them so hard.

"Rai, you stupid fuckin' wanker, let us go!" Piers wheezes. "I'm happy too, but—dammit!"

"I can't help it!" Leon goes dizzy as the dragon effortlessly picks them up and spins them around. "He said yes!"

"He won't be sayin' yes anymore if you squeeze us to death!"

They're unceremoniously released. Leon stumbles and sucks in a deep breath, and lurches without thinking to catch and support an unsteady Piers.

"Sorry, guys." Raihan scratches his cheek, managing to look both apologetic and elated at the same time. "I was seriously about to die of anticipation there."

It's then that Leon realizes that he was crying. He doesn't dare take himself away as Piers' support, so he does his best to let his hair hang and hide his face from view, blinking away what he can and praying that the tears dry on his face before they're noticed.

"Glad you were able to hold onto your horns," Piers drawls, drawing away once he's stable and dusting his hands down his clothes. "Dunno about you both, but I think I've hit my limit for the day."

A knowing glance puts Leon's breath on a hook. It's gone as soon as it came, and Piers turns away, putting Leon out of his view entirely and occupying Raihan's attention. "Let's talk logistics instead. First off, we have another bed Leon can use."

"But that one's mine!" Raihan's tail lashes.

"Please, we both know you prefer my bed over yours." Piers snorts and shakes his pretty head. "Either burn the damn thing or put it to better use. Let Leon have it."

He gratefully takes the opportunity to rub at his eyes under the guise of fixing his wind-blown hair.

"Fine. Deal. That just means I have no choice but to spend every night with you, I hope you know."

"Yeah." Piers tosses his head and sets a hand on his hip. "And?"

A strange rumbling sound emanates from Raihan's chest. Leon glances up and startles at the blatant desire on his face. The dragon's eyes are half-lidded and raking over Piers, who stands there taking the attention without batting an eye. In fact, the smaller man is actively smirking up at the beast. Leon can practically feel the energy between them.

Something clicks in his brain.

These two might be more than just friends.

All the little interactions between the two come flooding back in a rapid replay. The touches, the glances, the little nicknames. Raihan said things like 'babe' and 'baby' so casually that they barely registered in Leon's mind as anything but that. Casual.

This right here, though? It's anything but casual.

Leon takes a step back, but it does nothing to diminish the charge in the air. He's kind of worried now, that something might happen if he doesn't say anything. He'd hate to get in the way of their... intimacy, but something tells him the conversation can't end here. There's not just living logistics to talk about, but something...

Something he almost forgot.

Leon sucks in a breath. The tension across from him snaps and he becomes the subject of simultaneous attention.

"You alright?"

"What's wrong, knight?"

They spoke over each other so quickly.

"I just... remembered something." He grimaces and his stomach drops into a pit of guilt.

He feels terrible for ruining the happy mood when Piers was the one to cover for him. Not to mention he was an idiot, saying yes to living with them when he forgot something so important. Piers and Raihan might not want to extend their welcome to him anymore after hearing this, but they have every right to know...

"...Must be somethin' bad if you're makin' that face. What is it?"

He can't face them directly. "I have a deadline. To return home. If I'm not back in Rhondeland when I'm supposed to be, I know they'll come looking for me... I can't do that to you, what if they find this place?"

Piers casts a meaningful glance up at the dragon, whose teeth are bared in wicked delight. Leon doesn't feel much better seeing it.

"Easy," Raihan rumbles. "Easiest problem in the world. If they come here I'll just kill them all."

"No!" He jolts. "No unnecessary deaths!"

"I dunno, sounds pretty necessary to m—"

Piers sweeps towards Raihan and presses a hand on his chest. "Rai, _no._ He's right. Random challengers comin' to kill you is one thing. Makin' a whole kingdom our enemy won't do us any good. So cap the bloodlust fer once, there's another solution here."

The dragon groans and relaxes out of his eager stance, folding his wings back in and crossing his arms. "Fine. ...I'd win, by the way. If an army came up to me. Just saying."

Piers rolls his eyes. "We know you're strong, love. And I take it you already know what the solution here is?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah." Raihan turns to face him with a sharper grin and a casual display of his claws. "You've gotta die."

"Wha' he means is," Piers interrupts before Leon can do so much as take a step back, "all ye gotta do is fake your death. You tried to fight the dragon and got your shit wrecked, end of story. They won't come lookin' fer a body if it was a dragon that got to it." His nose wrinkles. "Messy cunts, they are."

"I resent that," Raihan says, tone light and airy. He loops an arm around the shorter man's shoulders and paws his hand down the pale chest exposed by the cut of the shirt. "You can get even messier, if I recall..."

Piers goes red. He ducks out from under the arm and darts a step towards Leon, spinning on a heel so he can hiss. "We have a _guest!_ "

"We have a new roommate," Raihan corrects. "It's different. Roommates have gotta live with you, or us, being messy every once in a while." A forked tongue, longer than any human's, makes a lascivious swipe across its owner's lips.

Heat crawls up Leon's neck, and he's only a secondhand observer to that flirtatious interaction.

He shakes his pending embarrassment off. It's not important right now.

"Faking my death could work. I might be a champion, but it's unrealistic for someone to go undefeated their whole life. A dragon would be the perfect thing to go down to..." He can't help but try his hand at bantering back. "Even if I think I'd win."

"You are _so_ on—"

"You two can figure that out later, given that no one dies for real. Fake deaths only, remember?" Piers gives them both a short glare, and a tiny thrill runs up Leon's spine. He's actually fitting into conversation with them. Even if it's about something as morbid as his own mortality.

Raihan delicately sighs. "Yeah yeah, I got it. So, fake death, dump some evidence in case people come looking?"

Leon rests a hand on his sword with a curt nod. "I'll do whatever needs to be done."

"That so..." Piers hums and starts walking a slow circle around him. "Since we're all on the same page here... Strip that armor, pretty boy."

"W-What?"

"You heard me," he purrs. "We're gonna get your arse scorched. Only metal remains. Take your breastplate and those vambraces off. And your sword. Raihan, take them outside and give 'em a nice flambé."

The dragon jokingly salutes. "You got it!"

They want him to do it now? Leon blushes and starts undoing the buckles holding the vambraces to his forearms. He didn't take much armor with him, to keep travel light and his mobility maximized.

Raihan happily takes each piece that's removed, until all that's left is the breastplate. Leon loosens it with practiced ease and lifts it off, shaking his hair out and rolling his shoulders. It always feels good to take off.

He holds it out towards Raihan, who's staring pretty intently at his chest. Leon blushes anew and steps back once the weight is taken from him. He adjusts his long-sleeved undershirt so it isn't clinging so much to his torso, and his hand automatically rests on the hilt of his... oh.

This too...

Raihan must sense his hesitation, because he chuckles and adjusts the pile of leather and metal in his arms. "Let's just say I chose to keep the sword as a trophy." He winks and strolls to the window. "One roasted knight, coming right up!"

And he's gone.

Without Raihan's presence, the room seems so much bigger. And quieter. He wasn't aware of how vibrant the dragon's presence was until he left.

Despite being unexpectedly allowed to keep his sword, Leon starts undoing the belt holding the scabbard. It loosens from his waist and he gathers the straps in his hand, staring down at the embossed leather and silver fixings.

"Hey." A soft voice beckons him to turn around. Piers walks up with silent footsteps, a small smile on his face. "You doin' alright? I know all this is happenin' so fast."

He lets his sword lower to his side and gives Piers his best reassuring smile. "I'll be fine. I'm sure I'll get used to things quickly. I always thought I'd spend the rest of my life unhappy under Rose, but here I am free..."

When Piers doesn't respond, Leon notices that he let his smile fade. He tries to freshen it back up, but a light hand on his arm stalls him out.

"You don't have to pretend that everything about this will be easy. Change can be hard. I know you weren't happy with your life, but you're allowed to miss parts of it. I know I miss parts of mine." Piers smiles sadly. "We won't think less of you if there's times you need to be alone. Or if things ever get overwhelming."

Piers lifts his hand from Leon's arm and strokes his face. This time, he doesn't close his eyes, even if he feels just as vulnerable as he did the first time. The cold thumb on his cheek rubs just beneath his eye.

"We're here for you. You live with us now, and that means all three of us are gonna take care of each other. There's no one here you need to hide or take orders from. We'll never make you do anything you don't want to."

Leon's hand loosens and the straps of his sword slip though his grip until the scabbard hits the floor. He slowly, warily rests his hand over Piers', waiting for the other to pull away. Piers never does.

"Why are you doing so much for me?" he whispers.

"Because I've been there." The hand on his cheek pulls away, and catches Leon's hand with it to bring down and hold between them. Piers' skin is so soft, with a few calluses marring the silky landscape. So different from Leon's own rough hands, whose only smoothness comes from the tiny shines of scar-skin.

"We don't know each other, it's true. But I know just enough to know that you belong anywhere but there. And because I'm selfish, and because Raihan's selfish, we want your new place to be here."

"But it's not selfish. It's anything but. Why do you keep saying that?"

"Maybe it's because I'm still not used to askin' for what I want. Just like you." Piers gives his hand a squeeze. "Maybe we can both get better at it."

He swallows, and squeezes back.

"Yeah. Maybe we can."

A distant _boom_ precedes a manic cackle. Piers shakes his head with a chuckle and draws away, and it feels like he pulled some of Leon's worry out along with him. "He's havin' too much fun out there."

He can't help but ask.

"How did you come to be with him?"

"Gods, that's a long and depressin' story. You sure you wanna hear after the day you've had?"

After a moment of consideration, he nods with a sigh. "You're right. I guess there's no rush, now that I'm, uh. Here." _For good._ "You can tell me about it later."

"That's the spirit." Piers cracks a sly smile and meanders towards the same armchair Leon was sitting in earlier. He sinks down into it with all the grace and poise of a cat, making the stuffy thing look like a throne with him in it.

Not knowing where to put himself, Leon takes direction from a wave of Piers' hand and shuffles towards the bed, taking a seat on the edge.

"Lay down if you'd like. He won't mind."

He's not that tired, but laying down does sound nice...

Leon hunches over his knees and undoes his boots. "I know I said you can tell me about your story later, but... is it okay if we talk?"

"Talk?"

"Yeah." He pulls his boots off and neatly sets them together on the floor. "Not about anything heavy. Maybe just... getting to know each other a little more. I barely know anything about you..."

"A chat sounds nice," Piers says, leaning his cheek against his hand and crossing an ankle over his other knee. "Raihan'll be a while out there makin' sure your 'remains' are properly unrecognizable. In the meantime..."

Leon pauses before he can lay back on the bed, swept up in the teasing curve of Piers' lips. "In the meantime?"

"It's as you said. Shall we get to know each other, roomie?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh my god they became roommates
> 
> This was super fun to write! I have more planned for this AU, no way am I stopping here. Hope you enjoyed!
> 
> EDIT: AAAAAAAAAA [Lagt](https://twitter.com/Lagt32635680) drew fanart of the three of them as well as a scenic shot outside the cottage and i about exploded seeing it, I have to share!!! [THANK YOU LAGT!!](https://twitter.com/Lagt32635680/status/1255583839608545281)
> 
> EDIT 18-JUL-2020: The incredible [DEADxEYEZ](https://twitter.com/DEADxEYEZ) made fanart of the scene where Leon and Piers see each other for the very first time and they captured the atmosphere flawlessly, I'm begging you give this a looksee it's incredible: [THANK U SO MUCH XAY AAA](https://twitter.com/DEADxEYEZ/status/1280750917445283840)


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